John: When I first saw Steve, it was late at night in a loud, crowded gay bar. He was the only man I'd ever seen in a gay bar carrying books. I thought, "there he is." I still do.
Val L: When I first met/saw Chris, I- with all my verbal prowess-could not form a complete sentence. Breathing was hard, too.
Steve: Way back in Junior High I was friends with a kid named Curtis. He and I cracked each other up all the time and drew intricate pictures on our notebooks. We were friends for a year or two and then his family moved to Utah. Curtis and I kept in touch via letters... first on Snoopy note paper and later with cards that started to show a 70's New Wave sort of aesthetic. We eventually both started to allude to being discontent with our boring high schools, boring peers, boring home towns. I started to suspect that maybe we had something else in common. But I couldn't even deal with coming out to myself, so I didn't bring it up.
Right after we graduated from high school Curtis wrote and said he was coming to visit. I was in suspense. The visit seemed full of significance. What would we admit to each other? Or was it all in my head? I was home alone when Curtis arrived; we hadn't seen each other since we were Junior High kids. I opened the front door and there he was: a big tall guy now, with a punk blond haircut, wearing little gym shorts, cowboy boots, and something like a Flashdance sweatshirt. I was thrilled but at the same moment my heart sank. It was immediately clear to me that he was gay, I was gay, and that I was at a no-turning-back point. It was scary. I asked him in.
Valerie: This ponderable made its appearance on my 22nd wedding anniversary, which I celebrated with a man who is that person who would become very important to me. In January, I took him to breakfast to celebrate the day we met, 25 years ago, so I guess he made an impression if I have remembered all these years. Back then, I went to a group function of college-aged students, the first gathering of these particular folks that I had ever attended. I met several new people. One was James, who just seemed like a nice, regular guy. There was another guy there who caught my attention, and I spent most of my time listening to what he said that first evening. At subsequent gatherings, that guy showed himself to be somewhat pompous and self-centered. James, on the other hand, showed himself to be a nice, regular guy, who made me laugh 'til my face hurt, who accepted me for me, who became my best friend and then some. This first impression was accurate- and thank goodness- a nice, regular friend, steadfast companion, is not to be taken lightly in life.
Garris: This story doesn't exactly involve the very first impression that I had when I met Danny Baum....but it was probably an impression that happened by the second day that I had known him. We were doing a production of Evita....Danny came into rehearsals in Nashville, Tn. on the second day as a replacement for someone that had to drop out of the production. The FIRST thing I remember was that he seemed to have this bright sunshine radiating from him. No other way to describe it other than he seemed to have a ball of light inside that spewed out of his eyes and head. We immediately became friends in that way you do in theatre, where the "getting to know you" time is cut down from a normal progression....to an almost immediate kinship. Well, even in the "instant best friendship vibe" that often happens in theatre (which is very often wrong by the way....I think it is survival instinct in most cases) did not prepare me for what I experienced on the second day that I knew Dan. I had given him a lift to the Post Office in Hillsboro Village. While we were on our way there, I had what I can only describe as a "vision"...a snapshot image popped into my mind...I could SEE it. Having only known Danny for about 24 hours, I cautiously turned to him and said "Well...I have just had the strangest thing happen". He looked at me with an almost frightened look on his face and said "yes? what?" I told him of the image that had flashed through my mind. It was a picture of he and I in the middle of a rushing stream....hanging on to each other tightly and for dear life in the water....no canoe...no life vests...no nothing, and heading directly for a very large and dangerous waterfall. Danny looked at me for more information, and had an expression on his face that made me think that he was pretty sure he was in a moving vehicle with a certifiable nut job. "That's it" I said. "That's all I saw". Over the years, Danny and I have each gone over many many waterfalls....some minor rapids....some big, soul crashing Niagara....but we have continued to hang on for 25 years now.
Lori: I first laid eyes on my then future husband my first year of college. I was 18 years old. He was talking animatedly to a friend on campus about 30 yards away. He had blond curly hair that was waving all about as he gesticulated, and he wore a ratty leather jacket that had some equally ratty painted design on the back, and he seemed to me to be a little self-important, so I decided he wasn’t someone I would try to get to know. Fast forward a few years, and he asked me out for ice cream one day, knowing I was in a long-distance relationship that I was really excited about. He was very intense, asking me all sorts of deep questions about this and that. It made me edgy and on guard. I went home to my roommate that evening and said, Melinda, I could NEVER date anyone like him. 2 months later, having been dumped by my long-distance love, we were in a relationship together, and it was great. Go figure.
Eve: This sort of instant knowledge has happened twice in my life. The first time I was visiting a college friend during her semester abroad in Italy. We went to a suburb of Rome, where her Italian boyfriend's band was rehearsing. We were all waiting in front of the house for the drummer to arrive, when someone spotted him over a block away. "Ciao, Paolo!" I looked up, and was immediately and electrically attracted to him. Our eyes locked- he clearly felt it (whatever "it" was), too. By the time we were face to face (blocks are long in this neighborhood), a few things became apparent. 1) He was a good 7 inches shorter than me 2) he spoke almost no English and 3) he was accompanied by a very possessive girlfriend. The band practiced, and we couldn't take our eyes off each other. Afterwards, we all sat down for lunch together. He made sure to sit next to me, and we attempted to communicate. I discovered that his only real line of English was "Have you seen my shoes, honey", evidently a line from a Peter Gabriel song he liked. He kept repeating this to me over and over, while his girlfriend glared at us... I somehow found this completely enchanting. After lunch, we all went our separate ways. This "conversation" cemented my belief in past lives and the fickleness of reincarnation. Paolo and I had absolutely zero in this life, but clearly recognized each other from a previous one.
The second time I "knew" worked out much better. I was in an east village performance space waiting for my friend Angela Repellant to perform when a guy in a vintage purple suit, 40's tie and fedora stepped out on stage. The brim of the hat hid his face, but I found him intriguing. He proceeded to read a poem he wrote, about Karen Ann Quinlan, and I "Knew". We have now been married for 18 years.
Brian: If it was a woman then I was smitten and it was no exception in Ardie's case. She was the wife of the pastor where I went to church; she also taught sunday school. I was young- probably seven or eight. It was because of her that I learned all my psalms and won a competition where the prize was a trip to OMSI- the science museum in Portland- with her and the pastor. I think it was a very early infatuation, but I was very upset when she later died of cancer. In retrospect I think my first impression of her was accurate. She was a very gentle, kind, caring, and attractive person. What adolescent boy wouldn't be smitten?!
No comments:
Post a Comment